Mulesing is a controversial surgical procedure used in Merino sheep to prevent flystrike, and significant progress has been made in developing and adopting welfare-positive alternatives.
The mulesing debate encapsulates a genuine welfare dilemma: a painful procedure performed to prevent a potentially more severe welfare outcome. Flystrike causes intense suffering that mulesing significantly reduces. However, mulesing itself causes acute and post-operative pain, and is performed without anaesthesia in most cases. The welfare solution is not simply to ban mulesing without alternatives but to accelerate the development and adoption of alternatives that prevent flystrike without surgical intervention. Selective breeding for plain-bodied sheep is the most sustainable long-term solution. Pain relief provision for mulesing when it is still used is the most immediately achievable welfare improvement. The global wool supply chain pressure from retailers has accelerated Australian industry movement toward mulesing phase-out, though progress has been slower than some targets anticipated.